


The Granddaughter

by whitecrossgirl



Category: Ghosts (TV 2019)
Genre: Feelings, Fluff, M/M, in this house w elove our emotionally repressed captain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:48:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27235255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitecrossgirl/pseuds/whitecrossgirl
Summary: A young woman visits Button House; eager to see where her granddad had been stationed during the war; as well as gather research on her Masters dissertation.  Alison can offer her tea, biscuits and a listening, emotionally repressed WW2 ghost.
Relationships: The Captain/Lieutenant Havers (Ghosts TV 2019)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 191





	The Granddaughter

“INTRUDER!” Robin bellowed from his position at the window. With the wedding and photography business doing well; unexpected visitors were not uncommon. Usually it was someone wanting to look around or who had seen the house and grounds on Instagram or Facebook. After the Grey Lady incident; the occasional ghost hunter came around trying to spot something. Fanny hung back from the window but the other ghosts flocked to the window as Alison left the room and walked downstairs. 

“Anyone recognise her?” Pat asked; more to Julian than any of the other ghosts. None of the others had any known living relatives. None that had ever come to Button House at least. Julian shook his head and instead they watched as Alison opened the front door. 

“Can I help you?” Alison asked politely. If it was another bride or event planner, she would advise her to make an appointment. If it was a ghost hunter, she would call the police. The visitor, a young woman with dark brown hair pulled into a plait, looked up at the house and smiled nervously at her.

“Sorry, I probably should have called or emailed. I just was so eager to see the house.” The woman said as she glanced up at the house again, a large lever arch folder wedged under her arm. 

“Are you a bride, or an event planner or-” Alison trailed off, waiting for the young woman to introduce herself. 

“Um no, sorry, I should have introduced myself. I’m Willow, Willow Havers. My Granddad was stationed here during the war.” Willow replied and Alison glanced back towards the house and gestured towards the door. Havers. She knew that name and which one of the ghosts would need to see her.

“Would you like to come in?” Alison asked and Willow nodded, allowing Alison to lead her into the house. As they walked in, Alison glanced up to see the ghosts hanging over the bannister staring at Willow. Alison tilted her heart slightly, the signal she had set up with the ghosts if they wanted to see a visitor. The ghosts thundered down the stairs and followed Alison into the lounge. “Can I get you a tea?”

“Yes please, just milk if that’s OK.” Willow said as she rested the file on her lap and looked around the room, oblivious to the ghosts who were studying her with interest and suspicion before charging after Alison.

As Alison walked into the kitchen, the ghosts followed, bombarding her with questions about the visitor. Once they were in the kitchen, out of earshot and the kettle on; Alison turned to face the ghosts and held her hands up. “She’s OK. Her name is Willow Havers, not a bride, buyer, ghost hunter or event planner. Her Granddad was stationed here during the war. She just wanted to visit the house.”

“Havers? Did you say Havers?” The Captain asked, gripping his stick tightly. 

“Yeah,” Alison replied. “Do you want to stay while we talk?”

“I-I would like that,” The Captain replied as the kettle flicked off and she poured the tea. As he followed Alison back into the lounge, The Captain studied Willow intently. He wasn’t sure if he could spot a resemblance to his William. The Captain walked around her and froze as she looked around the room, unknowingly looking right at the Captain. 

She had his eyes. 

His piercing, dark brown eyes. 

“So, your Granddad was stationed here, during the War?” Alison asked as she returned with the cups carefully held in her hands and the biscuit tin balanced under her arm. 

“Yeah he was. Well, he wasn’t really my granddad; he was my granddad’s brother but I always called him Granddad. I was named after him. Lieutenant William Havers. Willow Havers.” Willow explained and The Captain swallowed. Even hearing William’s name again was a shock. However he did also notice the past tense. He and Alison exchanged a look and he nodded. 

“If you don’t mind me asking, when did he,” Alison began and Willow smiled sadly. Even after all this time, she still missed him dearly.

“It was seven years ago, in 2013. He was ninety-eight.” Willow replied. “See, my granddad was a lot younger than him but he died when my dad was little so Granddad basically raised him and I called him Granddad even as I grew up. Even with all my cousins, we were always super close. Sorry, I’m rambling.”

“No, it’s fine. So what brings you here?” Alison asked as Willow held up her file; showing the label on the side. 

“I’m studying my Masters in Military History and I’m doing my Dissertation on the struggles LGBT soldiers faced, focusing on World War Two and comparing it to both Ancient times and the modern age.” Willow explained. “It was fascinating and horrifying to learn about how heroes of this war were treated; respected for their service and tormented for their sexuality, like Alan Turing. Like they love their brains and courage but despised their hearts.” 

“Good Lord,” The Captain said softly as Alison’s eyes widened in understanding. She had always has her suspicions about the Captain and when he mentioned Havers in the past when they accidentally detonated the explosives in the garden, she had wondered. Now it seemed, there were a few more pieces to uncover. 

“And your Granddad, he was,” Alison asked and Willow nodded. 

“Out, loud and proud, as he put it.” Willow replied. “Once it was decriminalised; Granddad came out even though according to my auntie, everyone already knew. He was always vocal about supporting gay rights and he taught all of us to support LGBT people. Even when he was well into his nineties, he insisted we take him to Pride every year.”

“Did he ever marry?” Alison asked and Willow shook her head. 

“No, when I was little, I asked him if he would have a husband. It was before same sex marriage was legalised but he never did have anyone. No boyfriend, no long term partner. He told me that he had truly been in love once but before the war was over, the person he loved had died.” Willow explained as she opened her folder and rummaged through the file. The Captain glanced quickly at the different pages of information, journal articles, news clippings, notes and photographs before he spotted one of himself and Havers. 

“This was him. The man Granddad was in love with. Before the Dementia took over, he told me about him. Captain Benjamin Simmonds.” Willow replied, pointing to the faded image of the Captain on the sepia toned photograph. “When Granddad got sick; I gathered as much information from him as I could. It wasn’t easy; he got some details confused but the one certainty I had was that he was stationed at Button House before he went to Africa. I would love to know more about this house and the role it played in the war.”

“I found some documents in the attic, they might be useful for you.” Alison offered. She and the Captain had gone through the documents; removing the photograph for Mike’s ghost board. The documents were in the Captain’s bedroom; he liked to read them from time to time. However she could tell that The Captain understood and wished for Willow to see and have the documents.

“I would like that,” Willow replied and Alison walked out of the room. The Captain followed her and once they were out of earshot; he shook his head in disbelief.

“I don’t know what to say,” The Captain said quietly and Alison smiled softly at him. 

“You don’t need to say anything.” Alison reassured. “Do you want to leave us?”

“No,” The Captain said quickly. “I would rather find out more about Willow’s studies.”

When they returned into the lounge, Alison handed the box to Willow, who opened it and studied the contents. After the war; most of the important and sealed documents had been removed. What remained were primarily copies of the house rules, popular propaganda posters and a few photographs. Willow smiled at the image of the Button House Cricket Team. It wasn’t a Havers’ family gathering if Granddad hadn’t gotten the cricket set out at some point. 

“I think these could be helpful; especially the rules about fraternization. It doesn’t mention who could fraternize with who so it could have been open to abuse.” Willow reasoned as the Captain turned scarlet and Alison bit back a laugh. “Granddad always said his Captain was a stickler for the rules.”

“Still is,” Alison muttered before she remembered herself. “I can imagine; most army people are.”

“Granddad was. It was funny, in a way. When he got sick, he would struggle to remember basic things like who we were but things from the past were so clear. It confused him if we had to remind him that some of those people were dead or that it wasn’t the 1940s.” Willow reminisced. Of all the ways to die, Dementia; in her opinion; had been the cruelest. Her Granddad, who had taught her so much, who had been a fountain of information about the War; the kind of information that her teachers never spoke about; who knew all the words to the wartime songs; lost his memory, his ability to care for, wash and feed himself. The scariest was when her calm, collected Granddad would get angry, confused and aggressive. It had been a long, heartbreaking decline for her Granddad and one he didn’t deserve. 

“I’m so sorry to hear that.” Alison said as Willow wiped her eyes. 

“Thank you,” Willow replied. “After he passed away, we found these with his stuff. I decided to hold onto them. I’m going to use them in my dissertation as first hand sources.”

“May I?” Alison asked and Willow passed over the letters; safely stored in plastic wallets. A handful of letters dated from 1941 to 1943. As Alison skim-read the letters, the Captain read over her shoulder, his eyes glazed with memory and love as he recalled writing the words; each a message of adoration for his beloved. “These are amazing.”

“They’re actually more amazing than you think. Look at the first letter of each sentence.” Willow replied. “It was a common way to send coded messages during the war.”

Alison looked at the letter again.

_ Dear Havers. _

_ I was pleased to receive your latest letter.  _

_ Myself and the remainder of the Button House IX find ourselves eager to join the front line ourselves. In the midst of the preparations, we have found time to play cricket. Sadly, the team is not the same without your throw. Someday we shall have to have a rematch. You shall have to encourage that all of the team is transferred to Africa too. One is still awaiting his service weapon. Until then, the work shall carry on. _

_ Regards,  _

_ Captain B. Simmonds _

“Wow,” Alison replied as she glanced at The Captain who was attempting to stare stoically into the distance. “And they wrote to each other throughout the war?”

“Until the Captain’s death. Granddad always said that had one of them been a woman; their story would have been seen as a great, tragic romance. Like I said, there was never anyone else for him. He loved the Captain too much.” Willow relayed as she set the letter back into the file and snapped it shut. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I unloaded all of this on you. I don’t normally talk this much.”

“No, it’s totally fine. Honestly, I love hearing about this old house. There’s always a new story to learn about.” Alison reassured; whether it was the discovery about the Captain’s great love or Mary’s recollection of the one time she got to eat strawberries. 

“That’s why I study History.” Willow replied. “Thank you for letting me see these. The house looks just like how Granddad described it.”

“A crumbling ruin?” Alison joked and they both laughed. The Captain nodded at Alison and she picked up the documents. “Take them. You would appreciate and use them more than I would.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t.” Willow protested but Alison pushed the box over to her. 

“Honestly; it’s just been gathering dust here.” Alison replied. “Besides, if it can help tell your Granddad’s story or help you get your Masters, then you should take it.”

“Thank you, I can pay for it.” Willow offered and Alison shook her head.

“Willow, it’s a gift.” Alison replied and held out her phone. “If you ever want to come back, let me give you my number. You can text me.”

“I’d like that,” Willow smiled as she tapped her number into the phone. “I can bring some more photos of my Granddad as well as his medals if you would like that.”

Alison glanced at the Captain who nodded silently. 

“I’d like that. A lot.”


End file.
